June 06, 2011

BIM Wash[1] is a term describing the inflated – and sometimes deceptive – claim of using or delivering Building Information Modelling products or services. An organization which commits BIM Wash is typically engaged in promoting its unwarranted claims of BIM capability through its staff, website, project submissions and/or marketing material. Like Green Wash before it, BIM Wash is on the rise in markets with value attributed to BIM tools and workflows, and where clients are increasingly requiring models to be part of project submittals.

Some of the BIM Wash (BIMwash, as a newly coined single term) activity can be attributed to the confusion surrounding the BIM term itself; unintentional and even harmless to a degree. Other activities, however, are more intentionally deceptive. This is certainly true for the many attempts to sell BIM services which have not been developed yet, or fall far short of clients’ expectations.

BIMwash is not only problematic for clients who engage service providers (architects, engineers, contractors,…) falsely posing as BIM experts, it is also problematic for the service providers themselves. By muddying the waters, BIMwashers can cause significant grief to those who have invested a lot of time, money and effort in developing their true BIM capabilities and in honing their BIM deliverables.

Defining BIMwash

The term BIMwash is derived from Whitewash, “a cheap white paint or coating of chalked lime used to quickly give a uniform clean appearance to a wide variety of surfaces”. Metaphorically, to whitewash means to “gloss over or cover up vices, crimes or scandals or to exonerate by means of […] biased presentation of data” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2003).

In essence, BIMwash is the attempt to­­ hide imperfections (BIM Incompetency), while at the same time, promoting an inaccurate view of one’s BIM capability or credentials. Using a more measureable definition, BIMwash is when:

BIM Claim[2]> BIM Competency[3]

That is, BIMwash exists when an individual, organization or project team’s BIM Claim is significantly higher than its actual BIM Competency to deliver on these claims[4]. This formula signifies that, in order to accurately measure BIMwash, BIM Competency must first be understood and measured.

Understanding BIM Competency

As a term, BIM Competency refers to a wide set of BIM deliverables and their respective requirements. Being BIM-Competent is a label that can be applied at different scales: to individuals (architects, engineers, project managers, etc…), to organizations and to project teams:

A BIM-Competent Individual is someone who has adequate BIM skill, knowledge and experience. A BIM-Competent engineer (for example) will, not only generate a data-rich 3D model using Revit, DP or Tekla, but can do it in a timely manner and according to a high delivery standard.

A BIM-Competent Organization[5] is the one that has consistently delivered (not can deliver[6]) a set of high-quality BIM products and services. It not only harbours the necessary BIM-Competent individuals but surrounds them with adequate systems, standards and due support.

A BIM-Competent Project Team is a group of organizations which – in addition to being individually competent – have gained (note the use of past tense here) the necessary experience to jointly deliver a set of BIM services/products through common standards, collaborative systems and optimized workflows.

Using the above organizational ‘scales’, let’s briefly explore how two typical, Unwarranted BIM Claims – or BIMwash - take shape.

Individual BIMwash

Unwarranted BIM Competency claims by individuals are prevalent during the process of recruitment. Individuals seeking employment within organizations those requiring some sort of BIM Competency – may claim that they have excellent BIM ‘skills’ or significant BIM experience. These claims are found in submitted résumés, promoted by recruitment agencies, or heard ad nauseam within the confines of interview rooms. Such claims may then prove to be true or - more often than not – prove to be awash with fluff and inaccuracies. Those project leaders who were on the receiving end of BIMwash can testify how a recruit – after claiming that s/he is BIM proficient during the recruitment process – turned out to be inefficient and even slowed down the whole team during a critical delivery phase[7].

Organizational BIMwash

Organizations – and by extension, Project Teams[8] - may claim specific BIM Competency in the hope of winning/satisfying clients or securing new partners or projects. These claims are specifically prevalent in marketing material (websites, presentations, capability statements, etc…) and within project submissions especially where the term ‘BIM’ has been loosely inserted by a major client into a tender request or similar. In countless cases, organizations who have publically promoted their ‘BIM Leadership’ or superior ‘BIM Capability’ have been shown to lack basic structures to deliver a reasonable-quality, BIM product[9] or service[10].

Other perpetrators of BIMwash

In addition to Service Providers[11] - the typical culprits, BIMwash is also practiced by[12]:

Software developers and their resellers who inflate the benefits of specific tools or claim that their product is ‘a comprehensive BIM solution’.

Clients/owners who demand a BIM product/service which they may not understand or – if delivered to them – do not have the internal capability to properly utilize and maintain.

BIMwash by consultants and advisors who inflate the effects of their services on the BIM implementation process.

The four levels of BIMwash

Not all BIMwash is of the same intensity. Mild forms of unwarranted BIM claims can be harmless to a degree while others can be malicious and severely disruptive. To help combat BIMwash, it is useful to identify its four different levels[13]:

Level 1: CONFUSION or Unintentional BIMwash

This is when BIM processes and protocols are not understood or are perceived to be similar to CAD. It is when basic model exchanges are confused with model-based collaboration. It is when a Model Server is confused with a File Server or a Document Management System.

Those who have not yet understood the multilayered implications of BIM concepts may inadvertently confuse themselves, their clients and/or project partners (see Fig. 1 below):

Fig. 1. BIMwash Level 1, confusing X with Y

Level 2: INEXPERIENCE or Low-Level BIMwash

BIMwash caused by inexperience manifests itself when the link between a BIM deliverable and its requirements is not acknowledged or when only some BIM deliverables (the low-hanging fruit) and their requirements are understood. It is when basic BIM deliverables (like coordinated drawings or model-based clash detection) are promoted as cutting-edge innovations.

To the inexperienced, BIM is similar to an iceberg – only a small number of BIM requirements/deliverables are seen while most remain hidden below the surface (see Fig. 2). This inexperience, in the hands of a prematurely-enthusiastic marketing department, can spawn significant BIMwash.

Fig. 2. BIMwash Level 2, seeing SOME and missing MANY

Level 3: EXAGGERATION or Mid-Level BIMwash

This is when actual BIM Competencies exist but are intentionally promoted far beyond their actual level. This is similar to telling a true story yet adding several Hollywood special effects on top (Fig. 3).

One example of Exaggeration is when a national practice claims (through its BIM capability statement, website or blog) juicy BIM competencies which have only been partially achieved by a local team on a handful of projects.

Fig. 3. BIMwash Level 3, blowing things out of proportion

Level 4: ILLUSION or Severe BIMwash

This is when the BIM Competency story amounts to pure fiction. This is similar to a Bollywood movie plot - all song and dance, colourful, and possibly amusing - but the actual story was never, and may never be, true! It is when a pre-BIM service provider poses as highly BIM-competent, successfully bids-for and secures a large BIM-mandated project[14]. Under the illusion of BIMwash, true capability and severe incompetency are indistinguishable.

Fig. 4. BIMwash Level 4, promoting what does not exist!

In Conclusion

BIMwash - like Greenwash[15] before it – is expected to proliferate within the market. This is mainly driven by an exploding number of large clients who demand BIM-centric delivery. With the absence of independent assessment/certification, BIMwash skews the construction market by making those with ‘creative BIM capability statements’ indistinguishable from those with hard-earned BIM competency. Understanding BIMwash is thus the first important step towards detecting it. In a future BIM Episode, I’ll describe a few approaches to combat and – in the long run - neutralize BIMwash.

[1] This blog post is an extension of the BIMwash handout distributed during RTC Australia, 2011. The topic will be covered in two or three posts depending on feedback received.

[2] BIM Claim is what an individual, organization or project team choses to publically identify as their extent of BIM competency.

[3] BIM Competency is a term that combines BIM capability and maturity. BIM Competency can be applied to individuals, organizations and project teams. This will be further explained later on.

[4] If BIM Claim < BIM Competency, then there is a missed marketing opportunity!

[5] This also applies to Organizational Units and Groups – smaller subsets within an Organization.

[6] There is an important distinction between BIM-Competent and BIM-Ready organizations. BIM-Ready organizations are those which have the capability to deliver a high-quality BIM product/service but have not yetgained the necessary experience.

[7] While individual BIM claims are quite easy to detect, provided the recruiter/interviewer is BIM-Competent, it is still common that organizations do not assess their inductees’ BIM Competency as rigorously as they should.

[8] Example: two or more organizations submitting a joint project bid or competition entry.

[9] Sample criteria: a well-coordinated object-based model, free of modelling errors, constructable, rich in necessary data, modelled at the right level of detail, optimized in size/performance, based on a consistent/standard naming structure, etc…

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